Public Referendum: Two Hours Versus 1000 Days

After suffering 21 months of torture and imprisonment, Liu Chengjun, one of the people who tapped into the Changchun City Cable TV system on March 5, 2002, to broadcast facts of persecution against Falun Gong, died from torture in the morning of December 26, 2003.

Liu Chengjun was an ordinary Falun Gong practitioner. However, as one of the first people to break the government media monopoly in Mainland China with peaceful means, and to restore the people's right to know, Liu Chengjun and his fellow practitioners are known all over the world.

On March 5, 2002, Liu Chengjun and other Falun Gong practitioners broadcast two truth clarification videos through the Changchun City Cable TV system, the programs called "Falun Dafa Around the World" and "Self-immolation or Staged Event."

"Falun Dafa Around the World" directly exposes the Jiang regime's lie that Falun Gong is suppressed in China and not welcome in foreign countries. The video showed people of different ethnicities and nationalities around the world, including people from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and South Africa practicing Falun Gong. As a historic record, it shows the world accepting Falun Gong's "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" as the representative of the true traditional Chinese culture. How is it at all possible for Jiang Zemin to eliminate such a practice that is spreading all over the world?

"Self-immolation or Staged Event?" exposes one of Jiang's most shameless lies. This video analyzes the original TV program presented by Focal Point Interview on CCTV. It clearly reveals, through frame-by-frame analysis, many flaws in the regime's lies, including that one of the victims, Liu Chunling, actually died after being hit with a heavy object, and another self-immolator, Wang Jindong, had a Sprite bottle filled supposedly with gasoline between his legs. After his body had caught fire, the bottle was strangely intact. The original self-immolation CD from CCTV has been distributed widely throughout the world by Chinese consulates.

Jiang Zemin hid the facts of the persecution, but he couldn't hide his fears of the facts being exposed through avenues such as TV. Regarding the photo published on China News Net, showing Liu Chengjun unable to sit in a natural position, the regime would typically claim that Liu Chengjun was treated "like family" by the government officials. After Liu Chengjun had been illegally sentenced to 19 years in prison and had been cruelly tortured with the "Tiger Bench" for 52 days, he had to be carried into the courtroom, the regime would say that the prison guards treated Liu Chengjun with kindness, like "a spring breeze." They would even claim the bloodstains near Liu Chengjun's nostrils, ears, thighs and other areas on his body were due to occasional "kidney poisoning and heart disease."

In fact, Jiang Zemin's regime has for the past several years concealed the facts in a similar fashion. He has lied to the people in the entire country, including high-level government officials, and utilized people's ignorance and indifference towards Falun Gong to maintain this persecution. However, television broadcasts of the undeniable truth threaten to destroy all of his lies, and that is why Jiang is so afraid of episodes of Chinese TV being tapped into.

The truth-clarification videos had a tremendous effect in exposing Jiang Zemin's lies. His completely irrational reaction exposed his fears. Jiang Zemin gave a secret order to "kill [those responsible] without pardon." He further ordered the arrest of more than 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun City. At least six practitioners were beaten to death at the time. In September 2002, 15 practitioners were handed illegal prison sentences, from four to twenty years. Another practitioner Hou Mingkai*, who also took part in the TV tapping incident, was arrested on August 21, 2002 and tortured to death within two days. At least eight Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death because of the TV tapping incident.

The day before Liu Chengjun's death, a Falun Gong practitioner told me the Chinese consulate rejected her visa extension request. An official surnamed Lin at the consulate asked her in "for a talk." Lin denied that Falun Gong practitioners suffered any mistreatment, and he even refuted the experiences of Falun Gong practitioners who were imprisoned and later were rescued out of jail and went overseas. The basis for his strong conviction seems to be his firm belief that the majority of Chinese people "support" the persecution of Falun Gong.

When I read information about the torture death of Liu Chengjun, I remembered Lin and the other Chinese government officials who followed along with Jiang's decrees. What would they say if they were to face Liu Chengjun? Most likely they would repeat many lies and excuses from Jiang's cronies.

One things is certain, however - judging from Jiang's ruthless retaliation against the video tapping incidents, it becomes obvious that Jiang feels extremely frightened by Falun Gong truth-clarification videos. This might explain why he constantly avoids answering a key question: what is the content of those videos? Don't the Chinese people deserve to know the information contained inside the videos? The themes of the two videos, "Falun Dafa Spread Around World" and "Self-immolation is a Staged Event," are big issues. The videos contain critical information for anyone who wants to know the truth about Falun Gong and is interested in the long-term interests of China.

Although Jiang Zemin has used the TV tapping incident to slander Falun Gong, he has carefully guarded information about the content of the videos. Under the Jiang regime's control, Xinhua News Agency repeatedly emphasized that Falun Gong has to do with national security and the wellbeing of the common people, so the information is not released. If it involves the wellbeing of the common people, don't the people have a right to know? Of course they do. Even that consular official couldn't deny this fact.

Since Jiang's regime claims, "the majority of Chinese people support the persecution of Falun Gong," we have a proposal in this Chinese new century. Hold a public referendum on the issue of Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin has persecuted Falun Gong for more than 1,000 days. He can give Falun Gong practitioners two hours and allow Falun Gong practitioners to select their representatives and go on CCTV, to talk about the facts and give reasons why the persecution should end. Then, hold a national vote and see if the people who heard the truth would immediately end the persecution.

Two hours versus 1,000 days! Does Jiang Zemin's regime dare hold such a vote?
Since the "Appeals Office" became the "Arresting Office" in 1999, all channels of appeal for Falun Gong practitioners were illegally blocked. After more than four years of brutal persecution and at least 850 verified deaths of Falun Gong practitioners who refused to give up their belief, and as the death toll continues to rise, is there any reason not to allow Falun Gong practitioners in China to reveal the truth by tapping into the cable TV system? What the Changchun practitioners did by tapping into the cable television system to clarify the truth was peaceful, imaginative, and effective.

All Falun Gong practitioners in China who persisted in exercising their freedom of belief and freedom of speech, although they were subjected to brainwashing and violence, are our national heroes. They did not give in to violence and thought nothing of their personal interests. They had the courage to sacrifice everything they had to uphold the truth and their beliefs. Despite the long-term persecution, they kept the noble spirit of Chinese tradition and an upright moral standard at the cost of tremendous personal sacrifice.
I want to commemorate Liu Chengjun with this article. He sacrificed his young life for the interest of many, and he will be remembered!

By Minghui correspondent Ou Yangfei
 

* Mr. Hou Mingkai, 35 years old, was a Jilin Province Dafa practitioner. After July 20, 1999, Hou Mingkai persisted in Dafa practice and actively clarified the truth to people. As the result, persons from the illegal "610 Office" forced him into homelessness in July 2001.
In order to expose Jiang Zemin's lies and to allow people to learn the truth, in March 2002,

Hou Mingkai took part in tapping into the Changchun cable TV system and broadcasting Falun Gong truth-clarification videos. According to sources from the police system, the authorities from the "610 Office" posted a 50,000 Yuan reward and a two-level promotion for the capture of Hou Mingkai.

Hou Mingkai was arrested on August 21, 2002. The police claimed that Hou Mingkai committed suicide by jumping off a building, an often-used explanation by those Chinese police officers that carry out Jiang's policy, "deaths from beating are to be reported as suicides." On August 23, Hou Mingkai's body was secretly cremated.